This is the summer where we all wait nervously for the end of the transfer window, with everything crossed that Declan Rice is still a West Ham player by September.
Rice has become a vital member of the team over the last few years and has done an incredible job in being stand-in captain for Mark Noble, as the club skipper settles for a bench role.
The 22-year-old has consistently been linked with a return to Chelsea, who released him when he was just 14, but so far nothing has materialised beyond reported interest from managers Frank Lampard and now Thomas Tuchel.
And in a potentially new twist in what is fully expected to be a transfer saga this summer, transfer expert Dean Jones has revealed to The Football Terrace’s new show, The Done Deal Show, that Chelsea may instead move for PSG’s Marco Verratti.
Jones says that “Declan Rice is going to cost a lot of money” and that his “wage demands and personal terms are not small.”
He goes on to say “a lot of clubs have been made aware of what Rice is looking for and it’s a lot of money.”
You can watch a short clip of Jones’ thoughts on Rice below…
Chelsea to sign Marco Verratti to #CFC ?
🗣”Look out for Marco Verratti, PSG are doing some interesting business, so Verratti to Chelsea, maybe”!
Episode 1 of The Done Deal Show on The Terrace with @DeanJonesSoccer
📲- https://t.co/mEDGY5zN5h pic.twitter.com/NI2mwIfubR
— Terry Flewers (@terryflewers) June 8, 2021
So while this doesn’t completely rule out a Chelsea move for Rice this summer, it does give us a glimmer of hope that while we’re doing all we can to warn clubs off with a huge asking price, Rice might be pricing himself out of a move at the moment as well.
If Chelsea can get Verratti for less money, both in transfer fee and wages, then it wouldn’t be a surprise if they opted to go down that route. But that still doesn’t rule out any of the other big clubs who have been linked with Rice coming in and paying what we and Rice want.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot more to come on this story this summer!
You can watch Episode One of The Done Deal Show below…